Steam-boiler structure



Dec. 21,1926. 1,611,770

J. E. MUHLFELD. ET AL V STEAM BOILER STRUCTURE Fil'ed August 14, 19221 6Sheets-Sh t 1 IN VE IV TORS z m/Z%WM Dec. 21 1926.

Jv EJMUHLFELD ET AL.

STEAM BOILER STRUCTURE Filed August 14 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSMaw/Z W q 6 (72% w W I Dec. 21 1926 V 1,6*1 -1 ,7 70 J. E. MUHLFELD ETAL 4 STEAM BOILER STRUCTURE Filed- August 1 1 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 wvavm/rsATTOI? 'EY Dec. 21 1926 J. E. MUHLFELD ET AL STEAM BOILER STRUCTURE 6Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Auglgst 14 1922 Q Q Q Q Q QQQ/ QQ Q GQQ A TTORNE YDec. 211 H926.

J. E. MUHLFELD ET AL STEAM BOILER STRUCTURE Filed August 14, 1922 6Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS a 11a Cris/z Maklj 6'! (Z VZIfQiTZiCZS Z. C and.70/122 17.

HMI'I'ATTORNEY mm m Wm mum/0 J. E. MUHLFELD ET AL STEAM BOILER STRUCTUREFiled August 14, 1922 6 sh t s t 6 7/ mvmroms ATTOIRY M Patented Dec. 211926.

iTED A 1,611,770 PATENT OFFICE.-

NEW YORK.

STEAM-BQILER STRUCTURE.

1 Original application filed April 17, 1920, Serial No. 374,721. Dividedand this Serial No. 581,645. I

This invention relates to steam motive power and hasfor its primaryobject to provide an improved locomotive boiler structure of maximumsteam generating capacity and circulating drums and a steam generatingcylinder, through which the gases. of combastion pass, with space-dwater legs rigidly uniting the drums and the Cylinder. By means of thisimproved boiler structure we aim to increase rigidity and therebyobviate .vibrationtoa large extent and relieve the parts of unduestrains and stresses which have a tendency to promote rupture andleakage.

It is also an object of our invention to provide means in the nature ofa fuel econo mizer for utilizing the waste gases for the purpose ofheating the boiler feed water.

To this end we have provided a novel arrangement ofdampers controllingthe pas-' sage of the products of combustion through the smoke box of,the locomotive whereby such products will be first directed into contactwith the superheater units and then caused to impinge upon the walls ofthe feed .water reservoir both when the locomotive is in operation andwhen itis not'using steam.

Our invention also contemplates an improved exterior arrangement of thesteam delivering pipe connection, between the superheater' and theboiler water leg constituting the steam collecting dome, together with$9 a steam separator and a throttle valve in' terposed in said pipeconnection.

Inaddition to the above three features,.we

.also provide an auxiliary superheater arrange-din the locomotive cab orother suitable location for the purpose of supplying either saturated orsuperheated steam for the operation of the reversing gear, air pump,

grate mechanism, feed water pump, lubri- 'cator and other mechanicalaccessories with which the locomotive may be equipped and which are nowoperated by saturated steam..

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in theimproved con struction, combination and relative arrange ment of theseveral'parts, as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustratedin the accompanying drawings, and incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings, wherein we have i1lustrated one practical embodiment ofour invention, and in which similar reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a loco'mo-- tive diagrammaticallyillustrating the salient features of our invention,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the locomotive boiler,certain parts being broken away,

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line,33 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a similar section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1,

application filed August 14,

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view taken in advance of the front waterleg.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view through the smoke box of thelocomotive, showing one of the feed water reservoirs arranged therein,and illustrating the arrangement of the draught dampers when thelocomotive is in operation,

Figure 8 is a similar View showing the arrangement of the dampers whenthelocomotiveis not in operation.

Figure 9 is a detail vertical section illustrating the connectionbetween the dry pipe and the steam receiving header. f

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein we have illustratedalocomotive which may be either of the simple, compound, triplex orothertype, the locomotive structure is mounted and supported in properbalance upon the main drive trucks 5 and the front and rear-trucks o and7 respectively. As is well known, in the customary locomotiveconstruction the wheels of the latter trucks exert no positive tractiveeffort upon the rails as an aid in-the propulsion of the locomotive, butconstitute merely auxiliary guiding and supporting means. However thatportion of the weight of the locomotive which devolves upon the wheelsof the rear truck 7 results in a high adhesive pressure of these wheelsupon the track rails. -VVe have provid d a the rear truck 7 which isfully described and tire length of the boiler structure,

claimed in a second prior a plication for patent filed June 24th, 1920,erial No. 391,326,- and accordingly, will not be herein further referredto in detail.

The locomotive boiler, as herein shown, includes a pair of laterallyspaced upper drums 8 which extendsubstantially the den'- an a "air oflaterally spaced relatively short lower drums 9. The latterdrums extendrearwardly of the cylinder or shell 10 A water leg 11 is secured uponthe upper portion of the cylinder 1Q, which is in communication withsaid water leg through the openings 12 in the cylinder wall. The forwardends of the drums 8 are supported in said water leg and communicatetherewith through the openings 13, the water leg walls havingsteam-tight connection with the wall of the drum. v

The intermediate water leg 14fconnects the rear end of the cylinder 10with theupper and lower pairs of drums 8 and 9, and

these drums communicate with thewater leg 14 through the openings 15 and16'respectively.

The drums 8 and 9 are connected to each other at their rear ends bymeans of a third water leg ;17, said drums communicating with the waterleg through'the openings 18 and 19, respectively.

The lower drums 9 extend through the fire box at either side of thegrate 20, said fire box having refractory or other suitable side walls21 covered by the insulating material or lagging 22.

Banks of vertically disposed water tubes 23 extend between and connectthe upper and lower drums 8 and?) at each side of the fire box to eachother. These tube banks extend between the water leg 17 and the rear endof the cylinder 10.

A series of water circulating conduits 24.

extend longitudinally through the firebox and are inclined rearwardlyand downwardly from the front water leg 17 to the intermediate water leg14. Between the rear ends of said conduits and the grate 20 a bridgewall 25 is built and a baifle wall 26 is arranged upon the upper sidesof the conduits 24, and extends from the bridge wall 25 to a pointadjacent the water leg 17 This baflie wall at its side edges is adjacentto the i banks of tubes 23. It will thus be apparent from reference toFigure 4 of the drawings that the greater volume of the products ofcombustion gases can only escape from the combustion chamber in alateral direction by passing between and in contact with the tubes 23.The flame and gases are in this manner drawn by' induction through thetube banks, and then'forwardly through the fire tubes 27 which extendlongitudinally through the cylinder 10. These tubes at their rear endsare fixed in the rear wall of connection and the throttle valves arepipes 42,

31' are disposed, and fixed at their ends to the header walls. Each ofthe tubes receives an auxiliary superheater unit 32, of a superheaterlocated in the engineers cab 33, which furnishes superheated steam forthe operation of the air pump and other mechanical accessories of thelocomotive. f i

The primary superheater indicated at 34 is arranged in advance of thecylinder 10 and the usual superheater units are provided and extend intothe front ends of the fire tubes 27. The saturated steam header isconnected by the steam delivery pipe 35 to the upper and central portionof the intermediate water leg 14, which serves in the capacity of asteam dome. Any approved ,means may be employed for establishing asteam-tight connection between the pipe 35 and the water leg.- As seenin Figure 9 of the drawings, for this purpose weprovide the wall ofthewater nipple 36, with which the fianged end of the pipe 35 isengaged. Collars 37 and 38 are respectively engaged on the pipe 35 andnipple 36, and are connected by the clamping screws 39. By this meansthe abutting flanges may be securely clamped in tight engagement witheach other.

14 indicates an indentation of the rear leg 14 with a flanged wall ofwater leg 14 opposite the steam dethe throttle valve, as shown, or inrear of.

the same. It is to be observed that this pdipc posed exteriorly oftheboiler proper and between the two upper drums 8.

In order tofurther contribute to the tree circulation of the water andsteam between the cylinder 10 and the drums 8, said cylinder isconnected to the drums by means ot a plurality of curved alternatelyarranged tending the entire length of the cylinder.

Between the bridge wall 25 and the cylinder 10, doors 43 are provided,asseen in Figure 5, which afi'ordaccess to the interior of the boilerfor the purpose of making resaid series of connecting pipes expairs andinspecting and cleaning the fire tubes 27. These openings and doors maybe arranged in any other suitable manner.

The locomotlve is provided at 1ts front end with a smoke boat 44, havingthe stack outlet 45. In the upperpart of the smokev box and above theflues 27 a feed water tank or reservoir 46 is arranged. Preferably,

main damper plate 49 is pivotally mounted at its lower end, as at 50,and is movable between the upper edgeof the diaphragm 47 and arstopflange 51. At its lower end the diaphragm is provided with an opening 52anda second pivotally mounted damper plate 53, controls the passage ofthe prodnets of combustion through this opening. The damper plates 49and 53 are connected to -each other by a rod 54, whereby said damperplates may be operated in unison. Each of the reservoirs 46 ispreferably of cylindrical form, and is provided with a plurality of openended tubes 46" extending longitudinally therethrough, and through:

which the products of combustion may freely pass.

illustrated thearrangement' of the damper plates when the locomotive isin opera tion. From reference to said gure it will be seen that thedamper plate 49 is in contact at its upper end with the upper edge ofthe diaphragm 47, while the damper plate 53 is in an open position. Thusthe induced draught oreated by the steam 'nozzle draws the mainproductsof. combustion upwardly into contact with the ,superheater units.

which extendinto the forward ends of the tubes 27, and hence through thetubes 46 of the feed water eater.

A horizontally disposed plate surrounds the lower end of the stack 45and between the steam nozzle 71, the plate 7 0 and the verticaldiaphragm '47 a sheet of heavy wire netting or perforated plate 72 isarranged, through which the products of com-- bustion are drawn afterpassing through the tubes 46. Thus any cinders will impinge against andbe broken up by the netting or by other equivalent means, be depositedin the smoke box, and not projected through the stack outlet.

When the locomotive is not being operated, or the steam used, the damperplates are disposed in the position shown in Figure 8, wherein the upperend of the plate 49 is engaged with the stop flange 51, thereby stop 7plate 49. hence through the tubes 46 and around the reservoirs 46 andfinally through 7 of the drawings we have I the foraminous wall 72 outthrough the stack both when the locomotive is, and is not, us-

ing steam.

It will be understood, of course, that when the damper plates aredisposed, as seen in Figure 7, the products of combustionissw' ingfromthe lower fire tubes 27 will pass directly through the opening 52 and beexhausted through'the stack 45.

From the above description'it will be seen that; we have devised a verynovel locomotive boiler structure. the several units of which are socorrelated and rigidly secured to each other as to practically eliminaterelative vibration. Thus tortional strains or stresses tending to weakenor disrupt the joint connections between the parts of the water andsteam circulating system will be obviated. The weight of the locomotivestructure is so distributed and balanced between the main drivers-5, thefront supporting truck 6 and the rear supplementary drivers 7 thataconsiderable adhesive pres sure is exerted by the latter upon the rails.In view of the fact that the boilerhas a .very high steam generatingcapacity, the power necessary for thevoperation of the supplementarydrive wheels will not lessen 'or detract from the power applied to themain drive wheels 5.

It is to be understood that while we have herein shown and described onepractical and satisfactory embodiment of the several combinationfeatures of our improved locomotive, these features may nevertheless beexemplified in various other alternative structures, and we accordinglyreserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes as may befairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

While this particular description relates to a. boiler adapted for alocomotive such boiler may also be used for other stationary or mobilepurposes, as for example, for steamship or road or farm tractors.

We claim:

1. In a steam locomotive, a fire box and a fire tube boiler extendingforwardly therefrom, upper and lower drums arranged in pairs at oppositesides of the fire boX, said lower drums terminating atthe rear end ofthe boiler and the upper drums extending forwardly over the boiler, afront water leg connecting the forward ends of the upper drums with theboiler and affording communication therebetween, a rear water legconnecting the rear ends of the upper and lower drums with each other,and an intermediate water leg-rigidly connecting the upper drums withthe rear end of the boiler and with the forward ends of the lower drums.

2. In a steam locomotive; a fire box and a fire tube boiler extendingforwardly therefronn upper, and lower drums arranged in pairs atopposite sides of the tire box, said lower drums terminatingattherea-rend of the boiler and the upper drums extendingforwardly' overthe boiler, a front water leg connecting the forward ends of the upperdrums with the boiler andatfording communication thereb'etween', a rearwater leg connecting the rear ends of the upper and lower drums witheach other. an interme-j (hate water leg rigidly connecting the upperdrums with the rear end of the boiler and with the forward ends of thelower drums, and additional water and steam circulating connectionsbetween the boiler and the upper drums between the intermediate andfront water legs.

3. In a steam locomotive, a fire box and a fire tube boilerextendingforwardly therefrom,-upper andlower drums arranged in pairs atopposite sides of the fire box, said lower drums terminating at the rearend'of the boiler and the upper drums extending forwardly over theboiler, a front water leg connecting the forward ends of the upperdrums-with the boiler and affording commu-' nication therebetween, arear water leg connecting the rear ends of the upper and lower drumswith each other, an intermediate wag ter leg rigidly connecting theupper drums with the rear end of the boiler and with the forward ends ofthe lower drums, additional water and steam circulating connectionsbetween the boiler and the upper drums be-v tween the intermediate andfront water legs,

and water circulating connections at opposite sides of the fire boxbetween the upper and lower drums, and the fire tubes of lower drumsterminating at the rear end of the boiler and the upper drums extendingforwardly over the b01161, a front water leg connecting the forward endsof the upper drums with the boiler and affording communicationtherebetween, a rear water leg connecting the rear ends of the upper andlower drums with each other, an intermediate water leg rigidlyconnecting the upper drums with the rear end of the boiler and with theforward ends of the lower drums, and a dry pipe connected to theintermediate water lcg'at its upper end and extending forwardlvtherefrom between the upper drums exteriorly of the boiler.

5. In a combination water and firetube boiler, spaced'rear andintermediate water legs, a main boiler cylinder extending for-- wardlyfrom the intermediate water leg and having fire tubes extending'throughsaid water leg, afront water legextending above the boiler cylinder andcommunicating therewith, an upper pair ofsteam and water circulatingdrums mounted in said front, intermediate and rear water legs extendingforwardly over the boiler cylinder and communicating' with therespective water legs, pipe connectionsbetweeneach of said drums to theboiler cylinder disposed between the front and intermediate water legs,a pair of relatively short lower steam and water circulating drumsmounted in the rear and intermediate water legs and communlcatingtherewith, and a vertical bank of Water tubes connecting each of saidlower drums with the corresponding upper drum rearwardly of the boilercylinder.

In testimony that we claimthe foregoing as our invention, we have signedour names hereunder. e

JoHN E. MUHLFELD- vmennus Z. oanaonrs'rt.

